On all forums I have ever been to or been a part of I have always seen the members with a higher title or whatever the ranking system may be on said forum look down on the new members or the low to mid rank members. I think that people need to understand that just because a person is new to a forum doesn't mean that he or she doesn't know anything. For all you know this person could be a veteran programmer with a decade or more of experience than you.

Now, I am in no way trying to offend anybody with these ranks or titles. I myself am not of a high rank on the forum. And, by having these titles you have proved that you are experienced and a smart programmer, however there is always someone out there better than you. Always. I'd like everybody to keep this in mind while they are on the internet and even while they are out there in the real world.

“When I look at a person, I see a person - not a rank, not a class, not a title.”― Criss Jami

This is a great quote in my opinion.

This is my two cents on the topic.Go on with your day.

Was I before Chuang Tzu who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being Chuang Tzu?

From my experience on this forum, a user's reputation doesn't seem to effect their 'status'. By that I mean that users with low reputation don't seem to get looked down on. This is a unique forum in my opinion. The common user's intent of using this forum is not to increase their rank on the social ladder, but to both gather and to spread knowledge. Some high-reputation users don't have years of experience, likewise some low-reputation users don't have years of experience and vise-versa.

Exactly, in my year of being on this forum I've never seen anyone be discriminated by their rank. Sure, some people talk down to others, but that's just their personality, and has nothing to do with their rank. You have to realize this is the internet, and some people will not be nice. This forum is unique in the fact that most of the people on here are rather intelligent and have lots of experience and are willing to help others. Some people have answered the same question many times over and over, so their responses because robotic, that may be why you think the more experienced members and talking down to people, when in reality its just because the question has already been answered.

I'm a ninja and I did nothing noteworthy. It's really a matter of long-term activity, more than expertise.

Exactly, I just finished my first game, yet I have the most medals this month (28 so far) and am a wizard now! I'm not some super guru at all, in fact I've only been programming for three years, but its just the commitment and my love for at least trying to help others that has allowed me to get the high rank on this forum. I still like to be fun sometimes and I enjoy answering people's questions, but I have seen a lot of threads about the same thing, or threads where I did one Google search and brought up an answer... if someone doesn't research first I won't be as helpful or friendly, because it honestly kind of annoys me. I understand everyone starts off small, but come on, almost every browser out there has a quick and easy way to Google something.

Well, I have to hand it to you Riven, changing the forum ranking system actually did exactly what you expected it to. It reduced spam (somewhat) and is actually encouraging people to help out each other more.

This forum is unique, but I think it is because people who aren't really interested in development don't get past the front gate. Case and point, you get a forum where everyone is invested in the improvement of development. If I were to be honest, this is actually one of the biggest plain Java developer forums currently. It just happens Java development has a lot of things to do with gaming.

About the new blood...

Regardless, I do wish sometimes that people would dig a little bit on the forums and web when they have a question. I mean, sometimes, people are very quick to start up a new thread. Most of the time, if you typed those exact same problems in the JGO or Google Search bar, you'd find a whole lot of topics for that situation. I still can't pinpoint whether this happens because of frustration, trolling, or just laziness. Maybe it is a mixture of all three... I dunno.

All I can say is that I don't think I ever had to ask a legitimate question when it came to coding here. Just typing in the right keywords usually led me straight to the answer. The funny part is, the more I read, the more of a varied opinion I got. I learned a lot more than I would have if I were to get it directly.

To put it a different way, you get a lot more knowledge looking for treasure, than having someone bring it to you. There is some joy avoiding a trap, crossing the forest, and avoid the tiger on the way finding the treasure. Alas, there is some joy to be found digging through the threads, finding answers to problems not discovered yet. In my coding, I'm able to avoid a lot of mistakes because I read about them before I got to them.

Closing

I know for me, it isn't about the medals, rank, or even looking down at other people. I believe there is something that can be learned even from the new people. The forum has a pretty wide mask, it completely shields us so no one knows who we really are. In some cases, it is great because we are able to have conversation with people we wouldn't know otherwise... (even if it is just a quick response).

What I would suggest for people who are new is to always search for answers. Don't expect everything to always land on your lap, and you'll go a long way into solving problems. Trust me, great programmers are measured by the lengths they go to find the answer to problems. If you want to improve your skills, always be willing to search for it. 100% of the time, you'll learn a lot more than a direct answer.

The other side is that you'll eat "flak" from higher ranks a lot less. People won't think of you as lazy, or a "troll". They would be a lot quicker to answer your responses, because you spent time doing the research. When you speak about the subject, you'll be much more in-tune with the lingo and the answers you get will be a lot more exact. I do not ever condone mistreatment of any member, but it truly helps if the new member shows a little effort into solving the question.

So please, consider creating a "new thread" the last resort after you've exhausted all other options. Sometimes, the journey taken to get there offers greater knowledge than the answer itself.

I'm low ranked on this forum but I haven't experienced the problem of high ranks looking down on me, or other people because of their rank. People seem very nice here , that's why I love JGO, even though I don't post too much (I browse this forum almost daily)

I judge people based on how many grammatical errors are in their posts.

Meh... I really don't like that. As a non-native-english speaker this is sometimes not easy. There can be two persons, both being equivalently intelligent, but one grew up in England/America and is therefore able to speak and write english fluently, and the other person grew up in - for example - Russia, where you aren't forced to learn english in school.

My Mother is from Russia and hasn't learned english in school. She can't speak english very well...My Farther is from Germany, but back a couple of decades ago, he didn't need to choose to learn english in school, and so he chose french. Later he learned English by going to an English course for adults and by reading English books, but yeah...

I myself am 'lucky' that I live in the time of today, where I learn English in school from the first grade on. But still, I'm certainly not a perfect English speaker and I don't think I'll ever be, unless I spend a little time abroad.

I hope you understand my point and probably change your attitude towards people making grammatical mistakes in english.

I am English and English is the only language I know . I'am dyslexic and really struggle with spelling and am not good a proof reading my mistakes . I often make typos and all sorts of errors . So when someone who is trying to communicate in English, no matter how bad it is or how many mistakes they make I don't mind one bit . I don't like it when people judge you for how you write or speak. However if I make mistakes and errors in code it is fine and to point it out . (please do!)

I don't think anyone here judges on grammar, unless like Davedes said, you're a native English speaker and you have terrible grammar.

Can u helpz me hack teh internetz wif jaffa pleez?

How would one know that you're a native English speaker? Hell for all you guys know I'm a time travelling Irish terrorist from the future bent on taking down the world's leaders.But I do agree with what you say there.

Was I before Chuang Tzu who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being Chuang Tzu?

First of all, I am anal when it comes to grammar (although I don't really care about spelling) , I abhor any mistake I make and have too try very hard not to point them out in my friends. But a language exists to communicate. That's actually its purpose and its origin. I mean look at all the irregular verbs in every single language. So a lot of the things that people don't bother with / make mistakes on only exist because people were too lazy to bother with. In short language is there to communicate with. As long as that's happening it's all good for me. I shall finish with a quote from Moliere:

"If you are making yourself understood, then you are always speaking well."

When i started in this forum , some guys here told me to give up and go use Game Maker.

Yeah.Im about to finish my first 2D game.

..In Java and Libgdx.Deal with it.

In my defence, as I was one of the people you are referring to, you had made ~20 topics in Newbie/Debugging questions, all of which could've been solved by simple debugging. And that was why someone originally recommended it to you.

And then you posted some sarcastic comment, I replied to it pretending to take you seriously, and then the whole thread collapsed into a flame war.

When i started in this forum , some guys here told me to give up and go use Game Maker.

Yeah.Im about to finish my first 2D game.

..In Java and Libgdx.Deal with it.

In my defence, as I was one of the people you are referring to, you had made ~20 topics in Newbie/Debugging questions, all of which could've been solved by simple debugging. And that was why someone originally recommended it to you.

And then you posted some sarcastic comment, I replied to it pretending to take you seriously, and then the whole thread collapsed into a flame war.

But that is long behind everyone.

Nevertheless, congratulations on getting this far.

Everything was new to me.Before dermet/robin started making videos of libgdx, i had to learn all from myself and outdated tutorials.The documentation wasnt explaining right and i had never made a game before.So Yeah.

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